Posts Tagged ‘not embroidery but awesome’

The new Yuletide Revelry series is out, and we have some very exciting news for anyone who buys the whole pack (on sale!) … you get a FREE pack of coordinating printables!

That’s right, just purchase any version of the Yuletide Revelry design pack through Nov. 18 and these printables will automatically be added to your order history in as a separate order, all for FREE.

So, what do you get in this awesome PDF pack? Let’s peek…

A beautiful “Deck the Halls” Christmas card that fits on any letter size paper. We recommend printing on cardstock or something similar to give your card a glossy feel. Just cut it out, score the middle, and write your holiday wishes inside.

You also get SIX coordinating gift tags. These can be used as little toppers for presents, or with a simple hole punch and ribbon, they can be tied onto toys and handmade gifts to give each present its own special touch. Write your recipient’s name on the back, or just let it add a chic and simple touch to your wrapped gifts.

Finally, you get this free downloadable pillow box! How does this thing work exactly? Easy! You just print the pillowbox pattern on cardstock (this is especially important for this one … regular paper won’t work!) Instructions included on the printable show you how to cut it out and assemble it. Yes, you really can make that box with one letter size piece of cardstock and the free download! You don’t need anything else but a glue stick and scissors to make it.

In fact, you can make a ton! These little boxes are absolutely perfect for little gift cards, candies, or more. Once you push the flaps closed on the side the box stays shut by itself. It’s pretty neat!

We just LOVE Halloween around here, so much so that we can’t help but get a little involved in Halloween crafts that may or may not have anything to do with embroidery. In fact one of our artists Taylor, who drew this Lil’ Death embroidery design, loved him so much he brought him to life! Or… er, death. Either way.

All you need is a sharp knife, some cardstock, and a glue stick, and you too can have a little death to cheerfully greet all your coworkers or friends this spooky season.

Love the printable? You’ll probably love the original design, and lucky for you he’s on sale as part of our Autumn Chill event for only $1.31, now through this Sunday. Grab your embroidered death right here at a discount, and then grab your FREE printable death right here!

Happy haunting everyone, and happy October from all of us at Urban Threads.

Designer Sarah Dickins is trying to do away with what she sees as a waste of clothes and bring back the ‘Make Do and Mend’ mentality with a sleek, easy to use new sewing machine. Designed to be beautiful and intuitive, Sarah hopes this will encourage a new audience to try sewing and mending their clothes.

As the designer explains, “By increasing the appeal and accessibility of sewing, Alto encourages users to ‘make do and mend,’ inspiring them to recycle, customize, and repair clothes which would otherwise end up in the bin.”

I have to say, with it’s beautiful curves, warm wood and gorgeous wrapped leather cover, it’s certainly a machine that wouldn’t get tucked away in my house. Read more about this contender for the 2012 James Dyson Award and see more pretty pics at ecouterre.

It’s been a long time in the making, but we’re very excited to announce that Urban Threads has a brand shiny new website! Along with a new updated look, it’s packed with lots of improvements and features to help you find what you’re looking for with ease, and help make your experience getting designs even better.

– A monthly archive of recently released designs, so you can see easily find what’s new

– New streamlined product display while searching and browsing — no more viewing designs in triplicate!

– Improved tutorial section — search or browse by tag to find just the tutorials you’re looking for

– And of course, everything is much prettier now!

When you first get to the new site, you’ll want to click on the top navigation bar to sign in, or sign up if you’re new to the site. Simply enter the same email and password you’ve always used on Urban Threads, and all your account information and order history will come with you. Once you’ve logged in, you’ll now notice that top bar has changed to a link to your new profile, your order history, and your faves.

We highly recommend that you update your profile right away — it’s got new features that will help make your Urban Threads experience as awesome as possible. You can enter your preferred machine embroidery format, order history display options, newsletter preference, and your machine’s embroidery area. Once you fill in your machine’s embroidery area, the tech gnomes on the website will helpfully display a little warning icon if you’re looking at a version of a design that’s too big for your machine.

The site will also display a helpful warning in your shopping basket if you try to check out with a design that’s bigger than the embroidery area listed in your profile. It’ll notify you if you’ve already purchased a certain design, too.

Want to add a design to your faves list, to keep it in mind for future stitchy awesomeness? Just look for the little heart icon with each design! You can see this both in the search view and on each product page. Once you click it, you’ll see a pop-up message indicating it’s been added to the list, and the little heart will stay checked so you always know while browsing which designs have already been added to your list.

You can do this while looking at individual products or even while browsing or searching. We’ve also updated the search so you no longer need to scroll through multiple versions of each design while browsing. Each design clearly indicates how many sizes are offered with the little size box, and if you roll over each box, you’ll see exactly what those sizes are. Clicking that box will take you to that size design.

What else? Well, the new categories are much improved and greatly expanded.

For instance, at long last, there’s finally a steampunk category! You’ll find it under Styles & Subcultures, along with lots of other cool trends. If you’re not sure what you’ll find in each category, just roll over each section and it will tell you.

You can view by type of craft (for instance, all tutorials for machine embroidery) and narrow it further by saying you only want to see machine embroidery tutorials that have to do with apparel and decor. There are nearly 200 tutorials to explore and try. Go have a look!

If you have any trouble logging in, buying, or otherwise using the site — or if you’d just like to let us know what you’d like to see on Urban Threads — send us a note through the contact form or email us directly at support@urbanthreads.com. We’ll be polishing the site up in the weeks to come, and we’d love to hear your feedback!

I have an admission to make. I’m addicted to packaging design. It’s true. It’s a great tragedy in life when you love physical packaging and sell only digital product. Le Sigh.

I also think that a good deal of many craft supplies do not suffer from an overindulgence of package design, which is a darn shame. When you go to the craft store, the assumption seems to be you’re either 6 and there to pick up supplies for your macaroni plate or you’re 90 and love doilies. Therefore I simply must celebrate anyone who takes the time to package beautiful skeins of thread into something that looks as delicious as these. Yum!

These delectable little boxes come from Adorn by Orna, and you can pick one up yourself from her Etsy store. What a fabulous gift these would make for a design happy embroiderer!

Don’t have a needle handy? Never fear. Dream {a Little} Bigger has a great tutorial up about how to transfer and paint your favorite embroidery pattern onto a tee or canvas of your choice. Now you too can rock out in nerdy style, no machine or thread required.